This application is related to co-pending application. Ser. No. 143,667, entitled Cooking Apparatus Ventilation System, filed by the same inventors on Jan.14, 1988.
Almost every cooking method, such as grilling, frying, boiling, etc., results in the production of smoke, vapors, steam or other by-products which must be removed when the cooking is done indoors. The common arrangement is to locate a hood above the cooking area which confines the smoke or vapors after they have risen. The hood is evacuated through some sort of venting system.
It is the popular style in many restaurants to prepare certain foods at the customer's table rather than in a separate kitchen. The usual arrangement has the customers sitting around three sides of a table, the other side of which contains a cooking surface, usually a griddle. A hood is situated well above the cooking surface to confine the smoke and vapors after they have risen. Because the hood must be placed high enough to be out of the line-of sight of the customers, drafts in the restaurant can drive the smoke and vapors laterally before they reach the confines of the hood, often annoying the customers seated at the table. Also, the presence of a number of hoods throughout the restaurant is not aesthetically pleasing.
One solution to this problem is to provide a suction venting system at or near the cooking surface. A fan or similar means is used to withdraw air through openings at the rear or around the sides of the cooking surface. The smoke and vapors are drawn into the venting system and evacuated outside the room. Examples of these systems are taught in Moeller U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,668 ,Cerola U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,827 , Jenn U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,853,115 and 3,474,724 , and Field U.S. Pat. No.3,712,819.
The major problem with these systems is that the area of the cooking surface must be kept small enough so that smoke and vapors created in the center of the surface will still be entrapped by the suction of the venting system. It is impractical if not impossible to create venting systems with enough suction to draw in all the smoke and vapors created on a large cooking surface. For example, it is common to have restaurant grills as large as five feet by three feet, or even larger. With such a grill, smoke and vapors can be several feet from the nearest vent opening. This inventions solves this problem by directing a horizontal flow of forced air above and across the cooking surface, thereby preventing the smoke and vapors from rising, as well as forcing them into the vent openings. In addition to solving this problem, the invention improves upon the process by recycling a portion of the air, now containing some smoke from the cooking process, back across the food, thereby enhancing the flavor. This is especially true when grilling is being done. None of the prior art cited incorporates this recycling feature.